Airlines could add up to 5,000 more flights at Dublin Airport next summer following a regulator’s ruling on Thursday.
The move is likely to push passenger numbers further past a 32-million limit that the gateway is already poised to break this year.
Air travel regulator the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA), said on Thursday that the airport will handle 25 extra take-off and landing slots a day in summer 2026, that is March to October.
That should give airlines at Dublin scope to add up to 5,000 more flights from the airport in total, informed sources say.
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The resulting number of extra passengers would depend on the airlines and aircraft involved.
The likely expansion comes despite an 18-year-old planning condition limiting passengers there to 32 million annually.
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Numbers at Dublin could hit 36.5 million this year, with the latest indications showing that traffic last month exceeded September 2024.
Ryanair, the airport’s biggest carrier, said earlier on Thursday that September passenger numbers grew 2 per cent to 19.4 million people.
The High Court barred the IAA from taking the 32-million limit into account when setting the terms for the allocation of slots at Dublin, pending the outcome of a challenge by airlines.
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The authority noted on Thursday that in light of that order, the slot co-ordination parameters for Dublin did not include any seat capacity limits on airlines.
The High Court has referred the issue to the European courts to first determine questions of European Union law.
The Court of Justice of the European Union will have to deal with those questions before referring the case back to the Irish High Court for a full hearing.
Airlines that took the High Court case, including Ryanair, Aer Lingus and North American carriers, expect a hearing in Europe midway through next year.
The challenge was against previous IAA rulings limiting the number of airline seats at Dublin Airport, in light of the 32 million cap.
Had that been applied it would have cut the number of take-off and landing slots available to airlines.
The IAA regulates slot allocation at Dublin. A separate independent company carries out the actual allocation to airlines seeking capacity there.
An Bord Pleanála, now An Coimisiún Pleanála, imposed the passenger cap in 2007 to avoid traffic jams.
